
The Desert Crucible
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.02
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim Gough
-
By:
-
Zane Grey
About this listen
Young John Shefford, a tenderfoot from Illinois who's escaping from his troubled past, heads west to follow up the curious legend of three people who live imprisoned in isolated Surprise Valley, one of whom is a beautiful young girl named Fay Larkin. Shefford, half in love with the girl he's never met, is determined to find the valley and free her, if she's still alive.
Shefford finds himself nearly overwhelmed with his experiences of the incredible beauty of the high desert territory, his new life working for the small trading posts there, his first encounters with friendly Navajos as well as dangerously hostile Indians, his ideas regarding the Mormon men and their "sealed wives", and his encounter with real love, all of which work their changes in him. He comes out a man made true and good, finally freed from the feelings of shame he had harbored so long.
©2003 Zane Grey, Inc. (P)2004 Blackstone AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Mysterious Rider
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Jack Sondericker
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knows why the mysterious rider showed up at the ranch, or where he came from. He seems gentle and kindly, but fire smolders behind those eyes, which can ignite in a sudden blaze of gunfire.
-
-
drowning in suds
- By Richard on 07-10-09
By: Zane Grey
-
The Fugitive Trail
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his brother, Barse, pulled one of the biggest hold-ups Texas had ever seen, Bruce Lockheart took the blame for it, leaving Barse clear to marry the beautiful Trinity Spencer. Bruce takes to the fugitive trail for a crime he didn't commit and is hotly pursued by a relentless ranger and the woman who loves him, fighting to clear his name. If she failed, he would have to hide for the rest of his life - or die!
By: Zane Grey
-
Woman of the Frontier
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Terence Aselford
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Logan Huett is a former army scout who discovers magnificent Sycamore Cañon in central Arizona, where he intends to homestead. With some trepidation, he wires East to the woman he had courted back in Missouri, proposing marriage. Lucinda Baker, a schoolteacher, accepts. But pioneer life proves very hard for her. Living is crude. She helps in the building of what will be their home but finds the loneliness where they have settled oppressive. The dangers are many and constant. But despite the hardships, despite the dangers, Lucinda remains strong.
-
-
Good story.
- By Jo Ann Turner on 07-22-10
By: Zane Grey
-
Rogue River Feud
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Along the notorious Rogue River, gold seekers, crazed by the discovery of nuggets that made them rich overnight, are at war with one another. The river itself swarms with salmon, bringing along with them another kind of wealth and violent fighting between fishermen and the fish-packing monopoly. Into this scene comes Keven Bell, returning to face life after being handicapped by a disfiguring wound he received in World War I.
-
-
Simple story
- By kirk on 06-04-22
By: Zane Grey
-
The Thundering Herd
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mile upon mile of prairie covered by great buffalo herds; reckless, hard-riding plainsmen, buffalo hunters, Indians, bandits - the whole colorful epoch of the pioneer, in a story which centers around the destruction of the thundering herds of buffalo. In this breathless tale of bravery and battle, of white man's courage and red man's daring, Zane Grey has written one of his finest novels.
-
-
Brutal, Melancholy Beauty
- By Benjamin McNiel on 07-24-23
By: Zane Grey
-
Code of the West
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot-blooded Georgiana Stockwell will break a man's heart while he's eating out of her hand. Moving from the East to join her schoolteacher sister in the rugged wilds of Tonto Basin, Arizona, Georgiana makes quite an impression. Despite her sister's best efforts, Georgiana creates a culture clash as her modern, free-spirited personality comes up against the code of the West, the unwritten law of the range that everyone is expected to follow.
-
-
A Western Romance
- By Richard Bretzing on 06-09-24
By: Zane Grey
-
The Mysterious Rider
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Jack Sondericker
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knows why the mysterious rider showed up at the ranch, or where he came from. He seems gentle and kindly, but fire smolders behind those eyes, which can ignite in a sudden blaze of gunfire.
-
-
drowning in suds
- By Richard on 07-10-09
By: Zane Grey
-
The Fugitive Trail
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his brother, Barse, pulled one of the biggest hold-ups Texas had ever seen, Bruce Lockheart took the blame for it, leaving Barse clear to marry the beautiful Trinity Spencer. Bruce takes to the fugitive trail for a crime he didn't commit and is hotly pursued by a relentless ranger and the woman who loves him, fighting to clear his name. If she failed, he would have to hide for the rest of his life - or die!
By: Zane Grey
-
Woman of the Frontier
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Terence Aselford
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Logan Huett is a former army scout who discovers magnificent Sycamore Cañon in central Arizona, where he intends to homestead. With some trepidation, he wires East to the woman he had courted back in Missouri, proposing marriage. Lucinda Baker, a schoolteacher, accepts. But pioneer life proves very hard for her. Living is crude. She helps in the building of what will be their home but finds the loneliness where they have settled oppressive. The dangers are many and constant. But despite the hardships, despite the dangers, Lucinda remains strong.
-
-
Good story.
- By Jo Ann Turner on 07-22-10
By: Zane Grey
-
Rogue River Feud
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Along the notorious Rogue River, gold seekers, crazed by the discovery of nuggets that made them rich overnight, are at war with one another. The river itself swarms with salmon, bringing along with them another kind of wealth and violent fighting between fishermen and the fish-packing monopoly. Into this scene comes Keven Bell, returning to face life after being handicapped by a disfiguring wound he received in World War I.
-
-
Simple story
- By kirk on 06-04-22
By: Zane Grey
-
The Thundering Herd
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mile upon mile of prairie covered by great buffalo herds; reckless, hard-riding plainsmen, buffalo hunters, Indians, bandits - the whole colorful epoch of the pioneer, in a story which centers around the destruction of the thundering herds of buffalo. In this breathless tale of bravery and battle, of white man's courage and red man's daring, Zane Grey has written one of his finest novels.
-
-
Brutal, Melancholy Beauty
- By Benjamin McNiel on 07-24-23
By: Zane Grey
-
Code of the West
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot-blooded Georgiana Stockwell will break a man's heart while he's eating out of her hand. Moving from the East to join her schoolteacher sister in the rugged wilds of Tonto Basin, Arizona, Georgiana makes quite an impression. Despite her sister's best efforts, Georgiana creates a culture clash as her modern, free-spirited personality comes up against the code of the West, the unwritten law of the range that everyone is expected to follow.
-
-
A Western Romance
- By Richard Bretzing on 06-09-24
By: Zane Grey
-
Nevada
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Jack Sondericker
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alone again! Just like his orphaned boyhood. Those are Nevada's thoughts as he turns from the only home and happiness he has ever known. But it had all been a lie, at least on his part. He had been hiding his true identity from his best friend, Ben, and the woman he loved, Hettie. They knew him as Nevada, a man they care for and respected, when in truth he was a wandering fugitive gunman, notorious from Nevada clear to Tombstone, Arizona.
-
-
Fantastic
- By jetson s taylor on 04-12-21
By: Zane Grey
-
The Lone Star Ranger
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Pat Bottino
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a story of Texas in the 1870s. After killing a man in self defense, Buck Duane becomes an outlaw, a companion of the gunfighters and rustlers who live along the Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a young girl held prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down upon himself the wrath of her captors. Henceforth, he is forced to live a lonely life, hunted on one side by honest men, on the other by outlaws.
By: Zane Grey
-
Betty Zane
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Betty Zane is the story of the first settlers in the Ohio Valley, and their fight for survival during the Revolutionary war. The British have organized and incited the various eastern tribes to attack American 'Rebels' in this lesser known theater of the war.
-
-
How did I miss this?
- By Richard on 08-27-08
By: Zane Grey
-
Knights of the Range
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Riders of the Purple Sage, comes another classic Western tale. In the spirit and glory of a classic Western, and published exactly as the author originally intended, Knights of the Range, is one of Zane Grey's swiftest and most exciting novels.
-
-
A Remarkable Ending!
- By Anonymous User on 07-30-23
By: Zane Grey
-
Robbers' Roost
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic story of imperiled love on the western frontiers of 19th-century America. While a battle rages between two outlaw gangs in a remote Utah canyon, Jim Wales struggles to rescue Helen Herrick, who has been captured and held for ransom. Robbers' Roost tells the story of their personal struggle to escape the clutches of the murderous outlaws while simultaneously safeguarding their passion, one that is not likely to survive the beautiful, yet deadly, terrain and people of the old American West.
-
-
Good Zane Grey.
- By Carol on 05-10-23
By: Zane Grey
-
Twin Sombreros
- A Western Story
- By: Zane Grey
- Narrated by: Robert G. Slade
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Brazos Keene, a haunted cowboy with an honorable streak, comes across Twin Sombreros Ranch, he finds himself dragged into a vicious family feud. A convenient fall guy, Brazos is accused of the murder of Allen Neece, son of Abe Neece. The Neeces are the former owners of Twin Sombreros but lost it to the Surface family when their $50,000 herd of cattle mysteriously disappeared. Brazos barely manages to avoid a hanging, but when he falls for one of the Neece girls, he can't leave without finding out who really killed Allen and what's at the bottom of this war over the ranch.
-
-
One of Best Westerns I ever encountered.
- By Dex on 03-11-21
By: Zane Grey
Flowery Description
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The meaning of life!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Zane Grey had a love/hate relationship with Mormons. He hated the first-stage, polygamy and prophet-based Mormon religion and loved their believers. Some of the Mormon characters are portrayed in the very worst of their depraved manner. The old Southwest was a tough, lawless place and Mormon Country was ruled by a theocracy with little submission to the laws of the United States. The plot is heavy on polygamy and sealed wives. In fairness Zane Grey has little good to say about any religious person in this novel.
Obviously people in 1915 spoke much differently than people today. Thus the prose gets lengthy/run-on, stilted and more than a little preachy. Zane Grey has an obsession with beginning each chapter with a dense word picture of the incredible scenic West. This goes on and on for quite a while and can frustrate modern listeners. The characters are drawn naive and simple. They accept their fate stoically. There are some very neat conclusions to very complex issues and problems. Novels of that age tended to jump to near miraculous outcomes...read Horatio Alger. Finally, the protagonist, John Shefford, goes into long tedious passages of self-doubt, self-realization of the obvious and very flowery language about not much of anything.
The fun part of this review is to say what is incredible. All Westerns pale in comparison to the authenticity of this novel. This is a wonderful love story. There are adventures and perils that would not be written by a modern author. The array of characters are interesting and the plot surges with a momentum to a satisfying conclusion. This novel will hold your imagination. This is the full, non-expurgated text lost for years due to censorship and thus a priceless Western.
Authentic Zane Grey Mormon Western
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a Finish!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great listen
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
rescue
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
However, this book turned me around. It is a fine way to pass the time, and the reader Jim Gough is a master for this genre. I wish he would do more readings. Zane Grey is a wonderful master of writing "in colour", as the Brits would spell it.
Forgot about him, now I love him
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
looking forward to more like it.
desert crucible
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This inaccurate portrayal of the early Mormon way of life is disgusting and offensive to anyone who knows the LDS people. I found the story so offensive that I eventually had to turn it off!
Unless you are a bigot don't waste your money on this book...buy one of his other ones.
Pure bigotry
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.